Forex Trading Sessions: Sydney, Tokyo, London and New York Explained

What you'll learn

• What the four forex trading sessions are and the order they open in.
• The approximate session hours in UTC and in the main UTC offsets across Africa and Asia.
• Why the London and New York overlap is the busiest window, how daylight saving moves the hours, and when the market closes.
• Which currency pairs are busiest in each session, and why spreads can widen in quiet hours.

This lesson is part of Market Basics.

What are forex trading sessions?

Forex trading sessions are the parts of the day when the banks and dealers in one region's financial centres are most active. There is no single exchange for currencies. Trading passes from one region to the next, starting in Sydney, then Tokyo, then London, then New York. Because the sessions follow each other, currencies trade around the clock on weekdays.

To see which sessions are open right now in your time zone, use the live forex market hours tool.

• Trading session: a block of hours when a region's market is most active. The name (Sydney, Tokyo, London, New York) stands for the whole region, not just one city.
• Liquidity: how much buying and selling is happening, so how easily a trade can be filled near the quoted price. Busy sessions usually mean more liquidity. Who supplies that liquidity is explained in brokers and liquidity providers.

What are the forex session times in UTC and local time?

The four forex sessions run at roughly the same times each weekday, and the table below lists them in UTC and four common UTC offsets. UTC (Coordinated Universal Time, the same as GMT here) is the reference clock. Much of Africa and Asia does not use daylight saving time, so these offsets hold all year.

These hours are approximate conventions, shown for when the UK and US are on winter (standard) time:

1. Sydney, 21:00 to 06:00 GMT, wraps past midnight and opens the trading day.
2. Tokyo, 00:00 to 09:00 GMT, is the main Asian session.
3. London, 08:00 to 17:00 GMT, is the European session.
4. New York, 13:00 to 22:00 GMT, is the US session; the shaded band (5) is the overlap with London.

To convert the times to any other place:

1. Find your offset from UTC, for example +1 in West and Central Africa or +8 in maritime Southeast Asia.
2. Add it to the UTC times in the table.
3. Check whether the UK, US or Australia has changed its clocks, then confirm the hours on your platform.

How does daylight saving change the session times?

Daylight saving moves the London, New York and Sydney sessions by about an hour in UTC, so the table above is only right for part of the year. When the UK and US move their clocks forward for summer, London and New York open about an hour earlier in UTC. Australia changes clocks in the opposite season.

Japan and much of Africa and Asia do not use daylight saving time, so there the shift comes only from the UK and US side. The UK and US also switch on different weekends, so for a week or two each spring and autumn the overlap is shorter or longer than usual. For the sessions in your own local time, see the country guides.

Why does the London and New York overlap matter?

The London and New York overlap matters because it is when the two largest currency trading centres are open at the same time. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) found in its 2025 survey that the UK and US handled about 38% and 19% of global foreign exchange turnover, far more than any other location.

More participants usually means more liquidity. During the overlap, major pairs such as EURUSD often have narrower spreads and larger moves than in late Asian hours. Scheduled economic news released in these hours can also make prices jump. What drives those jumps is covered in what moves market prices. To match a pair to the hours you can trade, see how to compare the best forex pairs to trade.

Larger moves need stops set to the session's wider range, with position size adjusted to match.

What is the best time to trade forex?

For most traders the best time to trade forex is the London and New York overlap, 13:00 to 17:00 UTC in UK and US winter time, because liquidity is highest and spreads on major pairs are usually narrowest. That is 14:00 to 18:00 at UTC+1 and 21:00 to 01:00 at UTC+8, an hour earlier in summer time.

The best hours also depend on what you trade. A pair is busiest when both of its currencies' home markets are open, so the table below shows the best currencies to trade at each time of day, in UK and US winter time.

Avoid the first hour after the daily rollover at 17:00 New York time, when spreads are usually widest. The forex market hours tool shows the live times for your clock.

Which currency pairs are most active in each session?

A currency pair tends to be most active when the markets for its two currencies are open, because that is when local banks, companies and investors trade it. So yen and Australian dollar pairs are usually busiest in Asian hours, euro and pound pairs in London hours, and US dollar pairs in New York hours.

Why do spreads widen in quiet hours?

Spreads widen in quiet hours because fewer banks and dealers are quoting prices, so buy and sell prices sit further apart. The spread is the gap between the buy (ask) and sell (bid) price, and you pay it on every trade. Quiet times include late New York hours, the daily rollover and holidays.

A worked example with synthetic spreads:

The same trades cost three times as much in quiet hours, before the price moves at all. To see what one pip is worth on your own position, use the pip value calculator. How spreads are priced is covered in spread, commission and swap.

When is the forex market closed?

The forex market closes at the weekend, from the end of the New York session on Friday until Sydney opens on Monday morning, Sydney time. In UTC that is roughly Friday 22:00 until Sunday 21:00 to 22:00, which is Friday 23:00 at UTC+1 and Saturday 06:00 at UTC+8. Exact times depend on your broker.

• Weekend gaps. News can break while the market is shut. On Monday the first price can open well away from Friday's last price, skipping any level in between.
• Holidays. When a major centre such as London or New York is on a public holiday, fewer participants trade. Liquidity can be thin even though the market is open, so spreads can widen and prices can jump.

What are the risks of trading in different sessions?

The main risks are wider spreads and jumpy prices in quiet hours, fast moves around news in busy hours, and price gaps over weekends. Each session has its own conditions, and orders are filled at the prices available at that moment.

MetaTrader 5 displays quote times in the time zone of the broker's trading server, which may differ from your own clock. Each symbol's Specification window lists its quote and trading sessions for every day of the week, so check it rather than relying on the table above. Managing these risks with position size and stop losses is covered in Module 5, Risk Management.

Try it on demo

In MetaTrader 5, right-click EURUSD in Market Watch, choose Specification and read the Sessions part at the bottom. Compare the server time shown in Market Watch with your own clock to find the difference. Then open an H1 chart and compare the candle sizes and spread in the London and New York overlap with late Asian hours. Just observe; no trade is needed.

Next in Market Basics: how brokers get their prices, in brokers and liquidity providers.

What are the 4 forex trading sessions?

The four forex trading sessions are Sydney, Tokyo, London and New York, opening in that order. Each name stands for its region: Sydney and Tokyo cover Asia-Pacific, London covers Europe and New York covers the Americas.

What time does the forex market open in my time zone?

The forex market opens when the Sydney session starts, roughly 21:00 to 22:00 UTC on Sunday. That is about 22:00 to 23:00 on Sunday at UTC+1 and 05:00 to 06:00 on Monday at UTC+8. It closes around 22:00 UTC on Friday. Check the symbol's sessions on your platform for your broker's exact times.

What time does the London session open in Asia?

The London session opens at 08:00 UTC when the UK is on winter time and about 07:00 UTC in UK summer time. That is 15:00 or 14:00 at UTC+7 and 16:00 or 15:00 at UTC+8. Most of Asia does not change its clocks, so the shift comes from the UK side.

Is the forex market open on weekends?

No, the main forex market closes from Friday evening UTC until the Sydney open on Monday morning, Sydney time. Some brokers offer other instruments at weekends, but forex pairs do not trade.

Is it better to trade forex in the morning or the evening?

It depends on your time zone. In Africa (UTC+1 and UTC+2), the morning London open and the afternoon London and New York overlap are usually the busiest. In Southeast and East Asia (UTC+7 and UTC+8), London opens in the afternoon and the overlap runs through the evening. Everywhere, spreads often widen after 22:00 UTC.

• Bank for International Settlements (BIS), OTC foreign exchange turnover in April 2025, 30 September 2025: the UK and US accounted for approximately 38% and 19% of global foreign exchange turnover. https://www.bis.org/publications/202509-commentary-otc-derivatives
• MetaQuotes, MetaTrader 5 Help: Market Watch (accessed 27 October 2026): quote times are shown in the time zone of the broker's trading server; the symbol Specification window lists quoting and trading sessions for every day of the week. https://www.metatrader5.com/en/terminal/help/trading/market_watch